Slow cooked lamb shoulder with smoked bulghur pilaf, plum pestil and sour pomegranate reduction, tarhana&chili cream and salted yoghurt

Mehmet Gürs

Lamb
1 Milk fed lamb shoulder bone in (1.5kg)
1 Fresh Thyme Spring, small
50 Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10 g Sea Salt

Smoked bulghur pilaf
80 g yellow onion, brunoise
200 g Smoked Bulghur (Firik)
100 ml tomato and olive oil sauce
180 g tomato (1 medium sized tomato)
70 g extra virgin olive oil
250 ml boiling Water
2 g Sumac
Cracked Black Pepper
Sea Salt

Plum pestil and sour pomegranate reduction
250 g plum pestil
350 ml water
30 g sour pomegranate reduction

Tarhana&chili cream

50 g tarhana base
150 ml water
75 ml lamb stock
20 g sweet urfa chili paste
5 g hot urfa chili paste

Salted yoghurt
500 g natural full fat yoghurt
50 g pure cream (approx fat 35%)
5 g sea salt

Assembly
1 Lamb Shoulder
30 g Smoked Bulgur Pilaf
15 g Plum Pestil & Sour Pomegranate Reduction
15 g Tarhana & Chili Cream
1 tsp Salted Yoghurt
Fresh Thyme Leaves and other micro herbs and sprouts

 

Lamb
Clean the silver skin and thick fat of the lamb. Put the lamb shoulder, olive oil, salt and thyme in a bag and vacuum on high. Cook sous vide for 18 hours at 60 °C. Cool in ice bath or blast chiller. Carefully debone without damaging the meat. Separate the muscles by hand and cut into 60 gr pieces. Vacuum pack the portioned meat pieces on medium (4 ea/bag). Keep in cooler.

Smoked bulghur pilaf

Soak the bulghur in warm water for 20 minutes. Wash and strain the bulghur.
Sweat the onion in olive oil in a small sauce pan. Add bulghur to the pan and stir 5 min over low heat. Add tomato sauce and the peeled and diced tomato to the pan. Stir over heat for another minute. Add salt, pepper and boiling water. Close the lid on top of the pan and simmer 15 to 20min. Add sumac and carefully fold it into the cooked pilaf. Allow to rest in a warm place at least 1 hour before service.

Plum pestil and sour pomegranate reduction
Slice the pestil and add to a small sauce pan. Heat and add the water on top, cover the pan with cling film. Rest 15 minutes until the pestil is dissolved. Pour the lumpy mixture into the Thermomix and add the pomegranate reduction. Blend at lowest speed with 100°C set for 5minutes until smooth and shiny. Blend at fastest speed for 1 minute. Pass through a tamis. Keep lukewarm until service.

Tarhana&chili cream

Crush the tarhana base in a mortar until crumbly. Put it in Thermomix and blend 1 min on max speed to a fine powder. Sieve the powder (45gr Powder, 5gr Bulghur) and discard the tiny bulghur. Put the sieved powder back into the Thermomix and add water, lamb stock, and both chili pastes. Cook 5 min at 100°C at lowest speed. When cooked, blend 90 seconds at full speed. Pass through a tamis and place a cling film on top to prevent contact with air. Keep warm until service.

Salted yoghurt
Strain the yoghurt with a coffee filter (the final weight of the thick strained yoghurt must be 350 g., use more natural yoghurt if necessary into yoghurt). Put the yoghurt in a mixing bowl, add salt and mix with a whisk. In another mixing bowl whip the cream thick and fold into the salted yoghurt. Keep refrigerated until service.

Assembly
Reheat lamb to 60 °C.
Open bag and sear the meat on one side. Spoon some tarhana cream on the plate. Arrange the lamb on top. Put the pilaf in a small mold / circle. Sprinkle a few leaves of thyme on the lamb. Make a quenelle of the plum reduction and put next to the lamb. Make a small quenelle of the yoghurt and put on top of the meat. Arrange herbs and sprouts on the plate.